TN steps up vigil, as tomato fever spreads in Kerala

CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu health department has increased its vigil on all check posts bordering Kerala after it reported spread of tomato fever or flu among children.

Health, police, and revenue officials are deployed at Walayar check-post from Palakkad district, Kalliyakavali from Thiruvananthapuram and at Theni check posts to scan children below the age of five.

A senior official with the Tamil Nadu health department while speaking to IANS said: "The tomato flu or fever is a self-limiting one and there are no specific drugs for it and if someone is affected with this disease they should be kept in isolation as it spread fast from one person to the other."

The tomato flu or tomato fever is characterised by rashes and blisters that are red in colour and hence the name. Children under five who are affected by this flu have high fever and body ache along with blisters and rashes on the body.

A Tamil Nadu health department official said that three teams have been deployed at each check post to prevent children with rashes and blisters from entering the state.

The infected children will also have symptoms of dehydration, stomach pain, diarrhea and nausea, and vomiting.

It is reported that in several districts of Kerala children are infected with Tomato flu and the state health minister Veena George has called for caution on the disease.